There’s a language to flavor, a rhythm to plating, a beat to how food moves through memory. And if anyone knows how to compose that into a symphony of culture, joy, and unapologetic Black expression, it’s Chef Kwame Onwuachi. This year, the celebrated chef and owner of one of NYC’s hottest culinary spots, Tatiania, brings that flavor-forward storytelling to fashion’s biggest night: the 2025 Met Gala.

The theme? Superfine: Tailoring Black Style. An exploration of Black dandyism. Think: zoot suits and durags, Savile Row meets Sunday service, Harlem Renaissance meets Lagos streetwear. A celebration of Black style and tailoring as craft, couture, and cultural code. And right alongside the high-fashion elegance and editorial beauty? Onwuachi is tasked with bringing that same energy to every bite. “When Anna [Wintour] reached out, I was shocked,” he tells BET.com. “It’s a huge honor.” But what makes Onwuachi’s appointment so fitting is his natural ability to mirror the fabric of Black style—not through starch and seams, but through spice, smoke, and soul. “I wanted to create something that highlighted the theme, sure,” he says, “but also something that’s just... delicious.”

That duality—that balance of concept and craving—is where Onwuachi shines. There’s no curated mood board, no Pinterest inspo. Instead, he cooks from memory. From lived Blackness. The flavors come stitched from the global Black experience—an edible anthology of the diaspora. From the Bronx stoops to Southern porches to sun-soaked Caribbean kitchens. “This is born of actual flavor and real things,” he affirms. “I wanted to really capture Black culture in all of its elements—from the diaspora to the Caribbean to the American South, even to just the boroughs in New York.”

It’s akin to a culinary collage. A menu that eats like a mixtape—each course a sample of home, history, and heat. It’s a remix in every sense—culinary Virgil Abloh, if you will. “Virgil,” he nods. “Taking Louis Vuitton and turning it urban. That’s kind of what I do with fine dining.” Just as Abloh reimagined the runway with sneaker culture and streetwear edge, Onwuachi is serving oxtail consommé with couture-level elegance. It's Afro-futurism on a fork.

And he’s not wrong. Much like Abloh redefined luxury fashion with a distinctly Black vernacular, Onwuachi is remixing fine dining, layering elegance with edge. It’s highbrow with a hoodie. And while the visuals matter—Onwuachi’s dishes are famously stylish, plated like wearable art—the real focus is the flavor. As he keeps the Met Gala menu secretly under wraps until the star-studded affair on May 5th, with famed dishes like oxtail and crab rangoon, short rib pastrami suya, and curried honey butter cornbread in his arsenal, one can only imagine what explorative flavors he’s cooking up. “At the end of the day, people are going to be standing around for hours. They want something that tastes really, really good,” he says. “You can have a story, you can have all these things—but if the food isn’t good? Nobody cares.” 

His Tatiana team, deeply woven into this process, feels that mission, too. “This isn’t missed on anybody,” Onwuachi says, nodding to the collaborative tastings and team involvement. They’re excited. We all are.” Because this is bigger than dinner—bigger than fashion—this is about legacy. It is about honoring the tailors and tastemakers who made Black style a global blueprint—and doing it through food that’s equally couture and comfort.

Chef Kwame Onwuachi isn’t just feeding the most influential people on the planet—he’s dressing the plate in Black excellence, threading ancestral flavor with high-fashion grace. Superfine, indeed.